Congratulations to the following students who have achieved their Bronze Duke of Edinburgh Awards:

Bronze Award:

● Jane Ambridge
● Jessica Allen
● Olivia Lochhead
● Lucy McLean

Here are some reflections about the award experience:

Jane says:

I was encouraged by family members and decided to do it for the skills and to build resilience. I volunteered to teach dance, and also performed at the Regent Theatre. I enjoyed learning to play the guitar, and went tramping at Makahika. The views were amazing and I learned a wide range of skills. The highlight of the award is that I was able to set goals, develop organisational skills and the log book helped to motivate me to complete the award.

Jessica says:

I decided to do the award to challenge myself in lots of different areas, to meet new people and step outside of my comfort zone, and experience new activities like tramping and camping in the ranges. For me the highlight of the award was getting to meet and get to know a range of different people. I learned how to safely navigate down a steep gully in the dark and get back to camp using a map and compass in the dark. I volunteered at the Palmerston Manor Rest Home, interacting with residents, setting up games, movie afternoons and making drinks for event afternoons. I also developed my acting skills, taking part in drama classes. 

Olivia says:

I decided to do this award because I thought it would be a fun challenge and I would get to enjoy new experiences with new people. I volunteered at Palmerston Manor Rest Home for a total of 13 hours and completed this every second weekend. I chose netball for the physical recreation section of my award. For my skill I did some drama classes and I chose this as my major activity so I completed 26 hours of my skill. My highlight of the award was the tramping because it was really fun and I enjoyed getting out of my comfort zone and meeting new people.

Lucy says:

I wanted to meet new people, gain new skills and attributes, and have a lot of fun in doing so! The award has certainly provided this! I completed 26 hours of helping a charitable community organisation; REPLAY, to collect, sort, and redistribute recycled sports equipment to children in our local community. I chose to do triathlon training for my physical recreation section.I did acoustic guitar as my skill as I was working towards my guitar exam. A group of us from PNGHS went down to Makahika for our practice and training journeys, and both were really enjoyable! On the night of our practice journey, we got semi-lost and had to find our way back to our tents in complete darkness for 2 hours! For my qualifying journey, another group of us walked up to Powell Hut on Mount Holdsworth in the Tararua Ranges and stayed the night, and were able to watch the beautiful sunrise in the morning. A highlight of completing the Bronze Award was the adventurous journey, especially when we got a little bit lost in the dark. We all started singing and everyone remained calm as we found our way back to our tents.